A Thousand Knives of Fire

The Last Train to Scornsville (Small Stone)
by Hansel Merchor

The best thing about stoner rock is that you don’t have to be a member of Mensa to put out an album on a reputable, specialized indie. New Jersey’s A Thousand Knives of Fire (a band comprised of members from Halfway to Gone) know all this too well, so they’ve written the most convoluted lyrics in the history of rock ‘n’ roll for their song “She’s Yours.” It goes something like this: “She’s yours, yours, yours, motherfucker, all yours, all yours, motherfucker, she’s yours, all yours, motherfucker, all yours, yours, yours, yeah motherfucker, all yours, yours, yours, yours.” And that’s the motherfucking word, let me tell you. To balance such lyrical genius load, vocalist Lee Stuart drops his lines with all the poignancy of an autistic child. But is not all a spark of genius as this quintet drops some bluesy jams that are sometimes effective and sometimes soulful and, of course, sometimes pointless and tiresome. Like during the rightfully titled “Yeah, Pt 2.” But with a song title like that, what could we expect? I mean, really.
(www.smallstone.com)